Truth That Kills With Noah May: Podcasting, Journalism, & Literature

Today, I sit down with Noah May, the creator and host of the Lethal Venom podcast and a journalism graduate from Auburn University. He shares with us the origins behind Lethal Venom, including why he chose a name that embraces hard truths, how his struggles with depression and anxiety shaped his voice, and the practical skills from journalism—especially interviewing—that now power his podcast. We explore what it means to build community through honest conversations and why hearing other people’s stories can be therapeutic.

Together, we go over the reality of starting and sustaining a podcast. We talk equipment myths, launching with what you have, and why consistency beats perfection. We reference his recent Podcasting 101 conversation with Alex Sanfilippo of PodMatch, discuss industry stats, and highlight the reality that many creators quit early—not because it’s impossible, but because they focus on opinions over actionable feedback and lose momentum.

We widen the lens to the variety on Lethal Venom: from mental health topics like depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and addiction, to conversations with therapists, creators, filmmakers, and even paranormal investigators. Mr. May shares how interviews help him and his audience process difficult experiences, why he welcomes diverse viewpoints, and how he balances three shows while keeping his energy on what’s working.

https://linktr.ee/noahspodcast

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*Couple O' Nukes LLC and Mr. Whiskey are not licensed medical entities, nor do they take responsibility for any advice or information put forth by guests. Take all advice at your own risk.

Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Couple Nukes. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey, and I love to do a guest swap. It doesn't happen as, I guess it happens pretty often, uh, but I am here with. Noah May hosted a Lethal Venom podcast, which I had a great opportunity to guest on that show, and here he is now to share about how that show was created, as well as his own origin story and all the things that he has faced in life that led to him creating a show.

So Mr. May great to have you here, and could you please tell us a little bit about yourself? Well. First off, thank you so much for having me. I can't, I've so excited to be here. Um, yeah. My name's Noah May. I am from the great state of Alabama. I went to Auburn University, um, and got a bachelor's degree in journalism.

I graduated back in December of last year. Um. During those times, I've been dealing with a lot of mental health struggles. I have been dealing with depression since I was 13, as well as anxiety since I was 18. And during those times it was just a matter of trying to deal with mental health struggles as well as deal with school and life and all that.

And then I'm also a part, part-time podcaster. I started podcasting earlier this year. And, um, host of three podcasts. 'cause I just don't like to shut up. I love to talk. And, um, yeah, just kind of been trying to move through life, like trying to do all those things I like to do. Yeah, for sure. And I could say at least, you know, on my end, I have found, you know, a lot of people hear what you're saying and they say, well, if you're dealing with depression and anxiety, hosting three podcasts sounds stressful.

It, uh, it's definitely a lot of work. But I have found podcasts hosting to be extremely therapeutic, talking to other people, building community. Uh, learning a lot of advice. Have you found that podcast hosting has played a significant part in helping you heal and recover as you continue this journey with depression and anxiety?

It's been therapeutic for pretty good. I've had a lot of good therapeutic moments on here. I was always kind of the quiet kid growing up to where I didn't really have. Um, a voice at all. No one really wanted to hear my story and hear my side at all. So the podcast was kind of a way for me to finally be able to have my voice heard and tell my story and make it to where someone would listen and that I wouldn't be silenced anymore.

So there's been a lot of, it's been therapeutic in that. Fact and also being able to just interview other people as well. They've dealt with the same things I had, or even worse, have dealt with worse things than I had, than I have. Having a chance to hear their story and also know that they deal with the same thing I deal with has been very, very beneficial for me.

A lot to what you're saying. You know, my mother told me that I would die alone, that no one would ever want to hear my story. And I've guessed over on over 30 podcasts, I've made over 200 episodes. I've spoken at conferences and other events, and I network all the time. And so I think it's not a, you know, no one wants to hear our stories.

I think it's just sometimes you're not in the right place or the right time. And through podcasting you can really discover, you know, the people who want to hear your story 'cause you actually have some, some power and choice over that. Whereas where you're growing up, you might be surrounded by people who just, you know, aren't smart enough or are, they're different mindset than you.

And so I think podcasting is beautiful 'cause it connects a lot of like-minded individuals. And I, I, you know, part of my show and branding is connecting with Outkast because I think, you know, everyone's story is important. It's just a matter of the right people connecting and it can be very difficult to do.

Growing up and so I agree, and, you know, interviewing people who have gone through the same things, you learn a lot of different coping skills. You sometimes realize, you know, it's given, has it given you a different perspective on your past? Have you been able to look back and look at things a little differently now?

Um, I've had. Some self-reflection on it. I don't really like going back in the past really a lot. Yeah. Um, especially for the, well, for the podcast I do to kind of give insight about what I've been through and to let people know just how I've, how much I've grown over the years. But I've, I've looked back to see how far I've come and.

I've gone back to see that, oh, I did go through some really bad stuff growing up and then I've always made it on on the other side. So I've, there's been times where I look back and, um, I'm grateful for being able to get outta that situation that I was in and that I was able to fight for it. But I try not to think about it as much 'cause it is a little triggering for some stuff, for some things I've been through.

Yeah, for sure. And would you say, so I know you said you went for journalism. Is podcasting kind of, I know they've talked about podcasting is kind of part of journalism, it's kind of separate. I know some colleges have talked about having podcasting as its own, you know, major or minor or different course from journalism.

What role has that played in in podcasting? You know, is podcasting kind of fueling a journalism journey for you or vice versa? That's a good question. It is a good point to bring up because a lot of people have kind of a opinion about journalism and what it fits in. I went into journalism as more of a reporter, or that's what you normally hear journalism as is either working for newspapers, working for magazine, working for tv.

Um, I think. I've had a lot of journalism skills put into the podcast when it comes to interviewing. Um, I, when I went to Auburn, I did a lot of assignments where I did have to go out and interview people around for stories, as well as trying to shoot B roll, which shooting B roll's, not really. Applicable for podcasting, but interviewing definitely is.

So I've had a lot of skills from those classes of being able to do interviews and I can actually do kind of good interview questions as well. Um. And I've also had like a lot of good skills in there. I've, I've learned that whenever you're interviewing somebody, you always, it's always polite that you let them talk first and that they have kind of, they, the floor, you don't really try to interrupt them.

You don't really, um, you just kind of let them talk. So I've had people on my show that talk for 30 minutes straight and not be quiet, but for, as a journalist, you're supposed to let them talk. You can't really interrupt them. They have the floor. So you give them the floor. So there's been some aspects of journalism that have gone into the podcasting, but some people might have opinions about, well, it's not true journalism.

Yeah. Actually, this was a couple months ago. It was a major win for podcasting. Uh, I believe it was shortly after Trump got elected. He, I don't know if it was him or someone on his team, but they had said that podcasters could apply for passes to go into the White House for some of the press conferences and actually do live coverage if they were like a news podcast or like a journalism based podcast.

Uh, so. You know, that has kind of expand that it was a, a win for podcasting in terms of more professional recognition as serious mediums. I mean, I'd like to say, I mean there, and you know, as a podcaster, and I'm sure you keep up with the stats, I mean, there are a lot of podcasts out there and I think there are a lot more people consuming podcasts more and more rather than news channels.

And one of the things that comes into play is a lot of the mainstream media. It's very left or right, you know? But with podcasting, you actually get individual and independent opinions sometimes. I know there are podcasts that do weekly news summaries that kind of compact it down and make it easy to get all the information.

So I think podcasting is beginning to play a more and more significant role in journalism, and we're gonna see how that continues to develop. But let's get into specifically your podcast, lethal Venom, getting into like when you started that. Give us the origin of the name Lethal Venom. I, I personally love it.

Uh, and I'm definitely curious how you came up with that name. So, the origin of the podcast is kind of, it was kind of ironic. I wanted a podcast for the longest time. Um, podcast kind of blew up over the pandemic 'cause. Everything was at home and no one had anything to do. So podcasts really, I think, took off.

Then, uh, about 2021, I just decided I wanted to do a podcast, but of course, I had no knowledge about how to start a podcast. I had no knowledge of how podcasts work or anything, and so I did some research and. Research didn't really help 'cause I had so many different opinions and different mindsets. And also it was kind of early 'cause podcasting wasn't really as popular when I started doing research as it is now.

So I, the information was very lacking. Um, it wasn't until I went to Auburn that I had a ma uh, a professor come and talk to our class. Um. Which I thought it was just gonna be another person talking about journalism for sports and, 'cause a lot of men go into journalism for sports related news stuff, and I wasn't like that, so I just kind of.

Always didn't pay attention to those guests. Well, he, he came in and the first thing he said was, um, podcasting. And I kind of just perked up in my seat 'cause I thought, I'm gonna learn this, this is, is meant to be. And he told me that he or he told the class that he was opening a podcasting class next fall, that if he wanted to have first Ds, I'm trying to get the class to talk to your advisor.

And so I went to my advisor and I said, I won't be first DS in that class. I wanna be first to be picked and. Luckily enough I got in there, uh, was able to take the class that fall, following fall, and one of the assignments that we had to do was pitch a idea for a podcast to the class. Well, I pitched a book one because I was a hu.

Um, I'm a huge avid reader and at the time I was very much a avid reader and so I pitched the Southern Readings book, PO book podcast, and. Well, I was pitching that idea, lethal Venom kind of was in the for frame of it. I wanted to kind of have a podcast. I thought of the idea of having a podcast where I just talked about random stuff and I would also have my story told.

'cause I was always silent as a kid. No one ever wanted to hear my story or hear my views on stuff. And I thought I wanna do a podcast where I was able to have my voice. So I also, I think, pitched the idea, which at the time it was nameless, it had no name. And some people were kind of against the idea about it because they thought that I didn't have, well, they had opinions about the book podcast too, but this one, they kind of had some opinions of, Ooh, I don't know.

You might have to think of the name, a good name for it. And it was one of those moments where I didn't really listen to their opinions 'cause I thought, well. It's my show. I don't want to, I'm just going to do what I want with the show, and I just kind of ran with it. I didn't take any of their criticisms to heart.

I just went with it and started planning it. The name came about. The name was difficult for me because I couldn't pick a good name. I wanted it to be venom or poison, and then someone rudely had the name taken, and I wanted my podcast name to be different than anything else. I wanted it not to have the same name, so I put.

Different things. I put venomous in. Someone had already taken that name, poisonous, had what was taken. And I thought, well, my God, I'm like, I, I can't find a good name. And so I put lethal venom in wasn't, wasn't already used. And I thought, I'm just gonna run with that. Um, the name kind of comes from. S the fact that sometimes the truth is really hard to hear and that sometimes the truth can kill you.

And so that's kind of how, where, where Lethal Venom comes from. It's, um, venom, as we all know, is lethal to people. So the truth kind of plays a role in that, is sometimes the truth can hurt people and it's real gruesome when people hear the truth. And so that's kinda how the name came to be. And in the artwork, I'm not an artist by any means, so the artwork.

Was totally AI for through Photoshop and about 2024 it got posted and was ready to start posting. And then starting of this year it's, it kind of got born this year, started posting episodes back in, I thought April, but apparently I started posting back in February or March. So I've only been posting for a few months, but this year it's been the year that it finally launched and it's grown significantly over the past few months.

Yeah, I think it's almost ironic 'cause you're such a mellow and gentle natured guy when you talk and then the show is lethal venom, you know? Mm-hmm. But I think that's part of, uh, venom. You know, you think of a lot of venomous creatures, um, you know, you wouldn't expect it. Uh, but that's controversial. Some people think snakes are ugly and terrifying creatures and other people think.

Pretty and, and harmless. So, you know, but I, I, I, I agree. You know the truth. I, I like that. You know, it can, it, the truth can kill, so to speak. So what are, I know it's kind of like everything, but if you had to summarize, like what are some of the main topics you talk about on your show? 'cause I know you do solo episodes, you have guest episodes.

I know you cover a broad array of stuff, but, you know, what, what kind of things do you like to talk about on the show? Uh. I mainly talk about mental health a lot. You know, I try to get a variety on there because I wanted my show to be more of a variety type show to where people of all backgrounds would come on there and voice their opinions.

I'm not really hesitant of who's on my show at all. If you have a story and you have a, a good compelling background. By all means be on my show. I don't care your views or anything. I take everything out. Personal views. I do not put into the show unless it's a solo episode of mine. I talk, I've had a wide array of topics on there.

I've talked about depression, anxiety. I've talked about PTSD. I've had guests come on that talk about worse stuff like bipolar disorder. I've had people come on with addiction from drugs and alcohol. I've had, um, and then I've had just regular people do therapists come on. I've had people that talk, I had one lady come on and talk about issues that middle, middle-aged women deal with and face that.

It's a problem that women are afraid to talk about. Um, I've had people come on, um, I had a couple come on that did paranormal, um, ghost chasing stories, and they talked to me about their paranormal experience about some of the. Places that they've been to. Um, one person came on and talked about, um, life in Japan and how he opened up a Japanese restaurant here in United States and, um, in Texas.

He opened up a cafe that was solely Japanese influenced. And then had someone come on that talked about, um, he worked on the HBO show, um, tales of the crypt. He, um, was a producer on there and just told me some secrets about what it was like being in the film industry. So I've had like a wider, wide array of stuff and I've talked about personal stuff too, about, I did an episode where I blasted all my classmates.

I've talked about, um, there's an episode coming out soon that I made a while back that focused on my school history. So I've talked about that. So it's just kind of like all over the place really. I do, I try not to keep it on one subject, so I try to keep it variety, very much variety. I know at the time of this recording yesterday, you actually had an episode come out with one of my good friends, Alex Sanfilippo, uh, you know, founder of Pod Match you did Podcasting 1 0 1.

How was that conversation with him? You know, he is a podcast guru, so what, what were some good takeaways from that? Uh, a lot of people don't understand that he. He actually had reached out to me, um, about Pod match and of course I had no knowledge of pod match when I first started. I didn't even, when I was doing so much research on podcasting and different platforms, it didn't even pop up, so it was a complete surprise when he emailed me and said, Hey.

I've listened to a few episodes of your podcast. I think you would be a good fit for a podcasting network. And I was skeptical at first because I've had a lot of job offers come from emails that turned out to be scams. Yeah. Or I've had offers be scams. So I was like, I was like, let me, let me look into it.

'cause I, I did a lot of research and I read a lot of good reviews I thought. Well, the reviews have been great. I've not had one bad review, so I'm gonna give it a shot. So I signed up and best decision I've ever made. It's been such a huge, huge, just kind of a success story for my podcast. Honestly, it's been the best.

So. I reached out to him about podcasting because I know a lot of people like to do podcasting, but they always think that it's difficult and there's so much aspects of what to go into, and so I sent him a message and said, um. I really appreciated the opportunity for you to gimme the chance to have my podcast be on the platform and have my voice heard and have the story shared.

And I just, uh, emailed or messaged him and said, would you like to appear on my show to talk about podcasting and give some tips about podcasting? 'cause I think it would be something that a lot of my viewers would like to hear, and I didn't expect him to actually accept it and be like, yeah, sure, I'll come on.

So when he. Accepted it. He, I was ecstatic. I was like, I thought, oh my Lord, I've made it. It was like one of those moments I thought, oh, okay. So, um, yeah, some good takeaways that I got from it was, um, you don't have to have the fancy equipment to start out. Um, he had told me that he started, um, recording on his phone.

To do podcasts and I actually did as well. Me too, I actually would, 'cause my Auburn had like a podcast studio or a recorded studio and I would always go in and just record on my phone and I went on voice memos and just recorded it on there and learn that I could transfer that into Adobe Audition and just edit it that way, even though none of those episodes got posted.

That's how I began. I didn't have a microphone at the time. I didn't have any fancy equipment at the time, so it was, I wanted him to kind of come on. So when he said that, I thought, oh my Lord, someone that actually had a similar story as me. Um, and he actually, he told me that podcasting just kind of for him just happened accidentally.

That wasn't what he and wanted to do, but he. It just blew up for him and he was like, I've had so many good opportunities come from, and I mean, he's the owner of a huge podcasting company now, so I mean, it paid off and he just gave such great advice about how you don't have to accept every offer, have, um, that everything that comes your way, you know, have some responsibility and don't be afraid.

One of the good advice I gave was. If you have a show idea and you really are adamant about it, it's one of those things where people's opinions really do not matter in that moment. If you have an idea for a show that you are really passionate about or an idea on a topic that you are really charismatic about, do it.

It doesn't matter what other people think, it's 'cause someone out there. So if you liked. So if you like doing crafts, if you like doing arts and crafts and you like to talk about it, talk about that on a podcast because I'm pretty sure there'd be someone out there that has a similar interest in you that would appreciate that episode or would appreciate that podcast.

So I've always said to people, if you have an idea, just run with it. Don't ask for opinions. I mean, it, it would be good to get advice from 'em, but if. You're really adamant about it and you have a lot of people say, oh, that's not a good episode. Just run with it. 'cause it could be a good thing and you never know it could take off and it'd be a very successful podcast.

So it's, I've always had to think of, just take the chance. I took the chance with this podcast and it surprisingly, has done well. I've had some great opportunities come from it that I never would've thought of. So I, so he was a, actually just a. Great guest to have because he gave so much me and him together great, gave great advice for podcasting and how to start a podcast and that it's not that as difficult.

So I, it was, I had, it was an absolute honor to have him on my show. Yeah, I call him a good friend 'cause I've met him a few times in person 'cause he doesn't live too far away from me. And ironically, I've never had him on the show. 'cause I had that mindset of that's the guy, like I need a, he needs a bigger platform.

But he's been on so many shows of my friends. I'm like, it's just a matter of time. But the reason I bring up that episode in particular is because. We were talking about the intersection of journalism and podcasting, and what he does through Pod Match is the monthly report. And so if you're listening to this episode and you're curious about journalism and podcasting, that report is so insightful.

Uh, if you go buzz route.com/stats as well, they also share all their stats and looking at that and pod match and looking at the numbers, it's really shocking. I mean, August's report. Was, or maybe it was July, whatever month it was, 578 podcasters quitting daily. On average, you know that only 40% of podcasters make it past eight episodes that only, you know, 4%, 6% make it to a hundred episodes.

Like. Podcasting is difficult, don't get me wrong, but it's also something very easy to start. Chris MSOs, uh, he runs podcast. He wrote a book called Start Ugly, and it was the same concept of just start your podcast, you know, upgraded along the way. When I first started my show, I was on a aircraft carrier recording into my phone, and if you knew the amount of background noise editing and the hours and hours spent trying to get out, you know, steam.

I, I mean, it was, it was ugly. It was bad. And, but you know, like you said, and I never expected to be a podcaster either. It was kind of accidental. Uh, but it has been the biggest part of my life for the past three years now, and it has led me to so many opportunities and meeting so many people. And I, I really like what you said.

Just make the episode, you know, we're not making it for the millions, we're making it for the people who are gonna connect with that. You know, I, I think that's so important. So many people get caught up on the numbers and competing with social media. And you're never gonna win that battle. You know, like I post clips of my show, right?

And I know that some AI generated video or some meme is gonna get more like stint and views and read shares than my clip, but it's for the, yeah. People who are interested in that, especially like you said, if you're passionate about something. And I think it's important to note the difference between opinions and then genuine advice and feedback.

And oftentimes we mistake opinions as advice and guidance. So I think, you know, if people give you honest feedback, Hey man, we love your show, but you know, the lighting's a bit off, or, you know, the audio quality's a bit off. Right? That's helpful, that's useful. But people are saying, Hmm, I don't really like the name of the show.

Well, that's your, you know, that's your personal, like, I have gotten a couple of three star reviews on my podcast of people saying, Hmm, it's kind of long. Uh, it used to be an hour and a half episode every time. And, and for me like that, honestly I just thought that was rude to leave me three stars for that because, okay, well it's not for you, it's for people who like long form, if you like shorter podcasts, there are.

Hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there. Find one that's short form. I mean, you can find, there's actually, I've listened to podcasts that the episodes are five minutes. It's like a five. Like I listen to a five minute wine review podcast. I've also listened to podcast episodes that are three hours long, you know?

It's like, find your stuff. Like I also got a three star review on my show by, and by the way, I have plenty of five star reviews. Just put it out there. I do not just have like a three star show, but I keep track of all the, the worst reviews just for my, my thing. And someone said, Hmm, it's a good show, but I don't really like military content.

Mind you, my, my show is not just military content. I, I have oh, out of over 200 episodes. A good amount of them are military mental health veterans and stuff. But I've done all kinds of other stuff, women's health, men's health, you know, first responders, storytelling, book writing, everything. And uh, the idea that they listened to like one episode that was military, and then let the review being like, I don't like military content, you know, but you know what they say.

About opinions, you know, everyone has one. And so I think it's so important to like ignore all that when you're first starting out. Like I think at the end of the day, and I put the same thing forward when it comes to writing and publishing a book, make it for you. And let it attract the people that are gonna be attracted to it.

Don't try to make it for other people because when you do, you lose your passion, you lose your craft, and it just becomes something that you dread, something that you resent, and then it's gonna go downhill and you're gonna end up being in that percentage of people, like we said, 60% who don't make it past eight episode.

You know, I think the biggest thing with podcasting isn't the, necessarily the quality. It's the consistency more than anything. You know, just showing up every time you're supposed to show up, that'll put you so much further ahead of everyone else who is quitting and, and leaving behind. So I highly encourage with fil.

Buzzsprout, and I'm sure other platforms also do statistic reports. If you like journalism, if you like podcasting, check those out because it's definitely very interesting to look at the number. I look at them every month and see what's trending, what's not trending, what's changing. I mean, you can, it's really fascinating.

But Mr. May, what I want to ask that has been on my mind this whole time is you talked about, you had the idea for a book podcast. You love reading books. I have to know, do you have a favorite book or is that, you know, asking too hard of a question, maybe a favorite. Book per genre because I'm sure you've read a lot of books that you liked.

I really like Young Adult because I'm in that demographic right now. Um, hold on. Um, I had so many, it's whole hard to pick. Like when I first started it was easy because I had like a huge, I didn't like reading for the longest time. 'cause school. Affected that. So, but I, I, I started reading like three years ago again, so when I first started back it was easy.

Now I've read so many, it's hard to pick. Um, I like, oh, I can't pick one book that's too hard. I get what you're saying. Well, and I agree with the, you know, school kind of. When you're forced to do something, your passion for it is not the same as when you do it on your own accord. You know, like reading on my own compared to reading for school.

I totally get that. I will say though, there were a lot of books that I would've never read that, you know, high school and and college and stuff forced me to read that. I was like, oh wow, this is actually a great book and I'm glad you know that it was kind of. Thrust upon me. And then there's other books that I'm like, I wish, I wish I could get that time back.

You know, that book was terrible. Um, but like, so just thinking back on high school literature and college literature, is there any like classical book that you really enjoyed that like kind of stuck with you? 1984, Greg Gatsby, Worthing Heights, Scarlet, any of that kind of stuff? Or you kind of did not like that stuff?

Oh, Scarlet Letter was the death of me. I hated that. It made no sense. We ran it for summer. Oh my God. Was it for summer reading? I think we ran it for summer. I had no idea what the hell was going on in there. I was like, I was like, what is happening? It was just like my, and I was in that mindset of like you said, and I'm so glad you said that because people, if I'm forced to do something, I don't wanna do it.

I don't wanna do it. Being able to read on my own and be able to like not have to worry about memoriz memorizing it, uh, it's so much more enjoyable. We had to read Scarlet and that was such a pain to deal with. And then, um, I'm trying to think of other class classes, the Crucible. I feel like you may not have liked that either.

If you didn't like Charlotte Letter. It was like older, modern that had what? It wasn't about the sale in witch trials. I don't think we read that. Oh, okay. We didn't really read the gr, the Great Gatsby either, because we ran out of time to read it, so we just watched the movie before. That was one of my favorites.

Not the movie with Toby McGuire. Oh, man. No. Well, I, we watched like an older version. Oh, okay. An older version. They had one with Toby McGuire and it was. It was so flashy and I don't know, it was just like watching that and having read the book like such different vibes, you know, like honestly my roommate, my, uh, past roommate, um, that I had for two years, he was drunk one night and put the Great Gatsby, the one with Toby McGuire and I thought.

Really, you're watching The Great Gatsby. I said, okay. I watched like a few for, for a few minutes till he went to bed about it and I was like, I don't get it. I, I, I was, yeah, I was so, I was like, okay. And it was long too. I thought, oh, thank God. Would've watched the whole thing. 'cause I would've been, I would've been dead asleep at that time.

Hmm. Yeah, we also read, which this was my choice and it was a bad choice. We read Fahrenheit 4 51 and I couldn't tell you anything about that book. I literally cannot tell you anything from there. Um, that I remember someone, I think I read the first chapter. Oh, I listened to someone on a podcast review, the first chapter.

Uh, I believe that's where they burn all the books, right? Or they have a select list of books that they burn. I'm pretty sure. Sure. I'll say mm-hmm. I, I guess that happened. I remember there was lots of sequences where someone ran through the woods or something. I don't know. It it, it was, it was dreadful. I, I didn't like it.

We also had to read, read in class, Romeo and Juliet, of course. And of course. I had to be the main lead in it because no one else wanted it. And this was a time where I didn't like reading in class and I thought, what was I thinking? Why did I want the main role? Because everyone in the class, all the guys did not want it.

And I said, well, give me the role. I don't care. Just so we can move it along. And then that's of reading. As I started reading it, I thought, oh, why did I pick the main role? Because I was always hesitant about reading out loud 'cause. The fact that I didn't like reading for the longest time, my reading comprehension was really bad.

It, it would take me forever to read a line because I would stutter over words and I would just get messed up. I had to do like finger reading too, so it was, I just didn't like reading out loud. It's better now 'cause I've been able to read. I can actually kind of read quick now and be able to read without messing up and.

At the time that I was like, oh my God, why did I pick the main lead? It was, I was like, I just wasn't thinking. I was not thinking. So we did, um, I. Romeo and Ju it wasn't Romeo and Juliet, I feel, well now I feel like it wasn't Romeo Ju in the show notes, they're gonna put Noah, Romeo, may, you know, Romeo with the quotation marks in the middle, Noah Romeo May.

Um, we read it and then we watched the original movie, which was like the classic rendition, and then we watched the modern gangster version of it, which was, um, it was Romeo and Juliet in modern times and they had guns and they were in gangs. And it was kind of like, it was so funny because the guy's like Tammy, my long sword ho, and she throws him a shotgun and he start starts shooting people.

Oh God. They kept all the dialect the same. So they're speaking like old timey, so to speak, but they're like at a gas station shooting people and it was. Do you bite your thumb at me, sir? And he's giving him the middle finger and it is like, no, I'm just, I do bite my thumb, but not at you, sir. He is just like waving around the middle finger and it's like it happens to be in your direction, but it's not at you.

It is a really funny movie. It's, it's really funny. Oh my. It sounds like they're stuck in modern, it's not stuck in the older days, but it's using a lot of modern. Oh, that's interesting. I'm trying to think. Maybe it wasn't Romeo and Juliet that we read. I remember we read it, but I don't think it was that one where I had to do the main role something Shakespearean.

It was something with Shakespeare though. Is there like a play that Shakespeare did that's popular? I could name like. 10 different Shakespeare plays. Uh, I mean he, he, he wrote a lot of plays and there's a lot of main roles in them. Well, I feel like if you, Othello, Macbeth are like the main ones that schools read.

The Tempest Storm and Macbeth. Macbeth, that was that one. I was main one. I pushed the real about that because, uh, one of my favorite quotes is actually from Macbeth. He says, I'm gonna butcher it 'cause I, you know, it's in whatever. But he basically, he says, if you are to walk halfway through a river of blood.

To continue forward or to go back is the same amount of blood. Therefore, what is a man supposed to do? And I was talking about the morality of killing. He had already killed people. Does he turn himself in and try to redeem his life or does he just keep killing in full? Send it? Uh, either way he has to walk halfway through River Blood.

So I really liked that analogy. I thought that was cool. And, um, yeah. Oh yeah. We had, we had her watch, um, or we had her read Make Path and that was when I was the main role in, yeah. It was that one. We also read, um, when I was a senior, we had a English class that was more kind of on the classical side where it would do like older words.

So we read Beowulf as well, which that was, that was an experience. We also watched the movie that had, that looked, um, it was animated, but the animation looked really realistic. It had like, um. I think Angelina generally was in it. Hmm. I can't remember any of the other stuff. There was like a scene where this guy like literally eats someone's head off and then we're like I said, Ooh.

I said, what is happening? It was kind of graphic for what it was, 'cause it was animated, I thought. I thought, Ooh. I said, what are we watching? I think everyone in the class was like, what are we watching? Right? It was, it wasn't that bad of a movie, but it was just it, it just wasn't my style of film that I like to watch.

But it wasn't one, it was not one of the worst ones we've seen. And to tie it all back, you know, you had the Southern Reads podcast where you go over books. Is that the same one from your college class? Yes. So that was actually the first one that I pitched to the class. And people had like, um, some opinions on, and it was still kind of a, you know, for that podcast as well, was a.

Well, it's your opinion. I don't really care what you say. It was more of a, I'm still, I'm still gonna do it whether you like it or not. So, um, it's still the same one. It's not, I don't really focus it on that one as much as, like, I didn't honestly think that lethal venom was gonna take off like it is. And so I actually.

Have put all my main priorities and work on this one 'cause it's done so well. And it's been the podcast that people have really resonated with the most. And so I've put a lot of dedication and hard, heartbreaking into this one. And I've not really focused on the other two that I have. I'd like to focus on them and kinda have more of a balance, but I feel like if I lose the.

Momentum of this one, something, it'll, the hype of it will go away and it might, maybe it'll fall back. And I'm trying, I'm trying so hard to like keep tabs on it, but I'd like to have like the book one start back up again. 'cause I really didn't really start it, start it that much. I started it around the same time I started Lethal Venom.

I started posting right when, um, back to back kind of. Yeah. And so what do you see as far as the future of Lethal Venom, and are you also simultaneously pursuing a career in journalism?

Yeah, I am. The thing with journalism is it's such a difficult field to get a job in, and I knew that going into the major. But I actually didn't honestly think it would be this difficult. At the same time, um, I'd like to have something along the lines of radio because I'm wanting to, my main thing to be as a talk show host.

And so the way that you do that is interviews. So this has actually been really some great experience for me. Um, being able to have like a list of questions to ask a guest as well as try to think of questions on the spot. Um, a lot of people like to have journalists that really can ask questions just off the top of their head rather than questions that are, um, pre-planned or they have a guideline that they have to go by and it's questions that are given to you to ask them.

I always like to try to think of a question that. It's just on the spot that they're technically not really prepared for, um, as the future for the podcast. I don't know really the future of it is, um, where it will end, end up. I hope that it is still going when in the future. Um, but I honestly, since it's done so well.

I, if I, if my dream in life was to be a podcaster, I think I would be okay with that. If all else fails and I got paid decently to do podcasting for a living, I wouldn't be mad about it. I've actually enjoyed doing this so much. I thought I wasn't gonna like it. 'cause as you said, and I know a lot of people probably have the same opinion, that it's hard work that.

You have to do everything. And you know, some, some podcasters have a team that focuses on editing, specifically on marketing, on social media, on trying to get guests on. It's like a whole team. I run everything myself. I do all the scheduling, the planning, the editing, the posting, the social media, marketing.

I mean, I do everything. Yeah. I don't have no team. So I think that's a lot where people are like. I don't wanna do that. I mean, you don't have to do everything by yourself, but I just know that if you are not able to pay other people to do your show, then your show's just gonna be at gridlock and it's gonna be, it's gonna stay there for the, for a long time.

It's it, and it doesn't take that much like I have like this little microphone here that probably cost about. Well, I don't know it, this, the microphone was actually a gift given to me, so I don't know how much it was, but I can tell you it was, it was not that. I've looked at similar microphones online.

Not as expensive. And honestly, you probably could go to Walmart or Target or even five below maybe and get like a good, decent microphone that plugs in your computer, and I honestly think you'd be okay. I mean, that's how cheap it is to do it. And as I said earlier. I started on my phone. I started recording on my phone on voice memos, and of course the apps comes with the phone and I'm pretty sure there's other audio recording apps on there that you can find.

But the, it's not really that difficult. So it's, I hope that it does well in the future. And if, and if in life, if I end up becoming a podcaster for a living. I wouldn't be mad. Yeah, no, I totally relate to that. You know, podcasting can kind of be as cheap or as expensive as you make it to be. And you know, you can get really expensive microphones, or there are plenty for 50, 60, 70, $120 that are good.

And it might sound like a lot, but you know you're gonna use it for a long time. I mean. If you take good care of it and your microphone should last you a couple years, you know, even like my camera, uh, you know, when I first started out, it was just the camera on my, on my laptop. Now I bought a little camera that attaches to it, and it was only like 30 bucks.

Now, one day what I'd like to have a full, you know. Big camera. Would I like to have three cameras and do different angle shots and everything? Sure. That's the, you know, the long term dream. Mm-hmm. But you know, for now, all you need is to hit record. And if you're doing audio only, I mean, it's really easy to podcast.

Yeah. You know, I don't recommend it. Yeah, I do recommend that. Everyone has video format as well, just because it does expand your ability to reach a lot more, to be on YouTube, to be on more platforms, to make social media clips. But you can also make audio only clips as well. So, you know, starting out it doesn't have to be that much work.

Um, as someone who also does everything by himself, it's a lot. I had 1,832 emails this week and I've been going through them for hours, you know, like. The longer you do it, the more and more guest requests you get from not just softwares like pod match podcast, kiss directory, but just random emails. You know, some of them, like you said, are, are, you get a lot of spam emails as well.

The amount of. Hi, I'm a, uh, SEO specialist and here's ways I can upgrade your YouTube channel. Emails. I get probably once a day minimum, you know, uh, I gotta go through all my emails. I gotta schedule, I gotta edit, I gotta record, I gotta plan the calendar. I gotta respond to text messages, to emails. I gotta make the social media clips.

So it, it can be a lot of work, but it's also, again, as much or as little work as you make it. And, you know, just, it's also one of the thing, I mean, with anything you do, the beginning is gonna be a lot of work. Yeah. You know, like I saw Steve Bartlett in person. He runs the Diary of a CEO, one of the top podcasts in the world.

He has a 60 person team last, uh, when I, when I saw him speak, but obviously he didn't start out that way, you know, so it's, it's you, you get there. But I think I. What comes first is the hard work and the passion and everything else we'll follow. So I, I definitely agree. We're gonna have your link read and description below where people can check out all three of your podcasts, especially Lethal Venom, and then if they wanna reach out to you to be a guest on the show, obviously they can reach out to you on Pod Match.

And then do you also have an email where you take guest requests? Yeah, they can reach me at, um, Luther Veno pod@gmail.com if they would like to be a guest on my show. Just, um, tell me a little bit about your background backstory and, um, honestly we can just go from there if I think you'll be a good fit for the show.

Um, chances are I'll probably accept it. I usually accept everyone that comes on, so feel free to email me. And, and you also kinda made a good point too about earlier. If for three years for you being a podcaster for three years, I, I've only been a podcaster for five months, so it, there's a huge difference.

I don't, at this time, I don't get like thousands of emails a day. I couldn't even, I couldn't imagine thousands of emails. I go, oh. I couldn't imagine the amount of emails you get, but it's also a thing that you'd be really grateful for. 'cause it's, oh yeah. This has been three years of hard work and dedication that I've put into to where now I can, I get email requests every day for guesting slots.

I mean, I'd like to hope that that would happen in the future, but, um. You honestly don't, it just takes time. And I'm like you, I'm kind of the opposite. I'm very basic about posting and everything. I do post on YouTube, but it's literally the audio thing of my podcast on YouTube and it, it doesn't do well, but automatic, right?

Yeah, it's automatic. It, it goes along with the RSS feed that I have put in. Um. I would at some point, and I'm thinking probab, I'm thinking about doing it next year, doing how great the podcast has gone. I think starting January I'm going to start posting the unedited video format of it. Just to have it on there.

Um, I still will have it mainly audio based, but I'll have it to where if people wanna see, like watch it, maybe I'll start posting the non-editable video one on there as well. Because the video, the reason why I don't do video podcasts as well is that it's just more work for me. A hundred percent. Yeah. It is more work.

I already have enough going on at that point at that. So what I would video be an option or be like a potential thing in the future? Absolutely. I mean, I think when you're doing social media clips as well, I think video formats do, I wouldn't say better than if you just have like an audio thing of like your podcast artwork on there like I do.

I think video is, um. More captivating, but I, I also don't see it as really like a necessity to have. Now everyone's different. If you wanna do that, do it. I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying for me it just, it's easier just to, but, and I even do like the teasers is why I make 'em. I just go cap cut and literally extract the teaser that I've saved to my computer and just put it in there and it posts on there.

So, um. But yeah, the, the, I got on tangent. Lethal Vent Pond is my email address that they can email me at. If you wanna be a guest on my show and wanna, um, appear and tell your story, please don't hesitate. Send me an email. Um, I'd love to have you on my show and hopefully we can, um, have a good captivating episode from that.

Yeah. And, and to your point, to everyone listening, I was already only for a year and two months before I went video, you know? So for you at five months in, you know, I, I get it, you know, it was easy. It was simple, you know. With, once you go video, I have to manually upload every YouTube video. You have to disconnect it, you know, from your RSS feed and you know, so now I gotta make a whole YouTube video.

Now I'm exporting stuff. I'm, I'm copy pasting stuff. It's, it's, you know, it is a lot of work. So I, I totally get it. You know, the social media clips take up a lot of my time because I always say I'm going to just sit down, dedicate one day to making like. A hundred social media clips so that I can just pre-schedule all them and everything and then it never happens.

So each morning I'm like frantically trying to make a clip. It's just time is the biggest thing, you know? It's just time, time, time. And uh, so I understand when you say, Hey, I've got three podcasts, but I only have time to focus on one. I get it. I used to run. Uh, more than one podcast and I was like, no, this is it.

It is hard enough to run one podcast by myself, let alone two or three, so I get it. But yeah, we're gonna have your link tree in description below for people to check out any of your three podcasts, especially Lethal Venom. Ladies and gentlemen, don't hesitate to check out the episode with me when it comes out on Lethal Venom.

Uh, shameless plug. But check out any episode. You know, there's a lot of good ones there. And you know, Mr. May I just wanna thank you for your time today for coming on the show. You know, we'll have you back on, uh, a couple months from now to see where you're at, see how the show is, is doing, if it's video or not, we'll hold you accountable.

But yeah, we're looking forward to future collaborations with you. Yes, and I have to say, um, thank you for being on my show too, and I promise that episode is, uh, just about brought up my ring. My show's coming out. I promise the episode's gonna probably be out. This week as well that I'm filming this, or probably the first of next week.

I've been so busy with some, I have like 30 episodes I need because I've gotten so I get it. The backlog, the backlogs, it builds up fast. So I've got, I was on a good role and then I had like a huge life change where I had to move from Auburn back home. And I also was dealing with some personal stuff as well, and I got backtracked on that.

So I'm playing catch up now. So, but I've posted about four or five episodes this week, so I, I'm getting back into the swing. But yeah, we did an episode together. Um. A few, uh, about probably, I guess a month ago now and it should be coming out very, very soon. But I just wanted to tell you again, thank you for being on my show as well, and I'd love to have you back on as well.

I.